10 Tips for Travelling the Underrated Countries

3. It can be more challenging to find cheap accommodation

This may sound surprising. Let me explain… When a country has many tourists, there are plenty of hotels and hostels that must keep prices competitive to stay in business. For that reason, it’s impossible to get accommodation in Niamey, Niger, for less than $40/night. Here’s the theory behind it: People who visit Niamey are the ones who have to, because of work or getting something done. So, they’ll pay for accommodation regardless of whether the price is $10 or $50. They have to be here, and they have no choice. Unlike tourists, if the price is too high for them, they’ll just choose a different destination.

Advice

In lesser-known countries, most budget guesthouses are not listed online. Sometimes I book accommodation online for 1 or 2 nights, then, once I get there, I look for a cheaper option. Often, I try to time my trip so I can arrive during the day, when it’s easier to find a cheap guesthouse. There are a few ways to do it:

• When your bus enters town, look through the window and see if you can spot a guesthouse. Then try to memorize the location or pinpoint it on your navigation app (Google Maps, Maps Me).
• Asking a taxi to get you to the cheap guesthouse – this is a gamble. It could be super helpful. He could also trick you and bring you to a not-the-cheapest guesthouse outside of town, just so he can charge more for the ride.
• Walk around and ask random people on the street – walking around with your belongings could be a great challenge, of course. Also, asking random people is a more useful strategy in small towns. In big cities, people usually have no clue about the guesthouses, cause they never need them.
• This is what I like to do: Once I arrive, I get into the first small shop that serves cheap food. After a meal, I ask them if I could leave my stuff with them and offer a few dollars. Then, I can walk around freely. The strategy sounds risky, but it worked for me every time!
• You could also rely on Airbnb and Couchsurfing. Those two websites have members literally all over the world. However, in less developed countries, locals rarely use them. The ones who do usually rent in a nice hood, for a pretty high fee.

On the bright side

• In less developed countries, it’s easy to connect with locals. So there is always an opportunity to ask one of them if you could crash at their joint for a night or two for a much lower fee than at the guesthouse. You think I haven’t done that before? Luck is indeed needed when applying this strategy, but once you hit the jackpot, it is a prime-time cultural experience!

5. Language barrier

Even if you do speak the official language of the country you are in, you could still struggle with communicating. The majority of developing countries have a Western language as an official language, but people use a local language for everyday communication. Some people who have never attended school are unable to speak the official language.

Advice

• Use phone apps! I recommend Google Translate. You can pre-download the language you need, so no need for Wi-Fi afterward. These apps don’t work perfectly, but if you’re still worried about the language barrier, use 2 apps.

On the Bright side

• In developing countries, in addition to the official language, most people speak one or two local languages. So, while you’re struggling to communicate with one of them, be respectful and admire them, because hat language versatility is rare in the developed world.

5. Touristy activities are expensive and usually guided

I’ll share my experience from Gabon, as an example. It’s a small country full of national parks. I wanted to visit one of them, but I couldn’t find a better deal than $300/day. Sounds extremely pricey for a park in a tropical rain forest with birds and monkeys, doesn’t it? Here are the reasons why:

• Since there’s not much tourism in Gabon, there is no group tour option. You would need to book a private tour.
• Since no one goes to the remote park, the road is unpaved. That’s why the agency has to rely on a pricey 4×4 vehicle to navigate a very bumpy dirt road.
• There are only 1 or 2 agencies providing this service – they don’t have to keep prices low in order to stay in business. It’s the minimum number of agencies operating, and their existence is supported by the government.

Advice

• Do some less exclusive activities (this tip is also very useful when visiting touristy countries)
• Ask locals for recommendations. This could be risky, though, so be very specific about what you are interested in.
• Instead of hiking a trail in a pricey national park, just hike farm trails. (I do this a lot!)

On the bright side

• Underrated countries could be so interesting; you don’t need a site or activity to have a great time. Doing simple things could be full of surprises.

6. People could drive you crazy

I wrote in my last week’s article that people in less touristy countries are friendlier and more helpful, mainly because they rarely see Westerners. That is a good thing for the most part, but not always. Locals could also drive you crazy. I wrote a few examples below…

Advice

• When they wanna take a selfie with me, I tell them selfies are very lame, or they are not cool anymore
• While they’re telling me boring stories or things I already know, I like to interrupt them by asking them something I am actually interested in.
• When they ask me too many questions, I ironically ask them: “Are you the police? Who do you work for?” It works great every time because they take it as a joke.

On the bright side

• It’s always better to deal with an annoying but friendly person, rather than with an unfriendly person, or with some hustler who wants to trick you.

7. Misunderstanding and miscommunication

This is very different than the language barrier. It is usually related to cultural differences. Let me explain through some of my experiences:

In Monrovia, Liberia, I have been hanging out with a local who worked at a small general store in front of my guesthouse. When I asked him about the local beach, he recommended one that’s 10 km outside of the city. Since he’s been a great friend during my stay, I trusted his recommendation and, without doing any research or asking follow-up questions, just decided to go there.

Once I arrived, there was a fancy parking lot and a gate. $10 entrance! It was a very basic beach with beach chairs and umbrellas. The only reason for the fee is to keep locals from coming here to do laundry, dump trash, etc. Also, wealthier locals like to separate themselves from the general public and be seen at the exclusive location. In other words, the beach provides a shitty fancy atmosphere I wasn’t interested in experiencing. But since I am white European, my buddy automatically assumed it was the right beach for me. I did remember mentioning I’d like to go to a fun local beach, though.

Here’s another example from Maseru, Lesotho

I wanted to hike a hill at the end of the city. It can be accessed through a neighborhood. While walking towards the trailhead, locals were asking me where I was going and what I was doing here. I would just point to the hill behind the neighborhood. They would still look at me, confused.

Here’s the reason why: in many developing countries, people don’t hike for fun. They hike only to get somewhere they have to be. So they would ask me follow-up questions like, “Why do you wanna go up?” They couldn’t believe I was hiking uphill just for fun. Some of them would even feel scared that I am some sort of spy who’s gonna set a bomb at the top of the hill. That could happen a lot in less touristy countries. People might be afraid of you, just because they are not used to Westerners. It’s just the fear of the unknown.

Advice

• Make sure you communicate well, explain your thoughts and desires in a few different ways.
• Do not rely entirely on locals’ advice. Take them into consideration, but don’t take their suggestions for granted.

On the Bright Side

• Any misunderstanding is gonna be a great learning experience about the lifestyle and mentality.

8. The Internet is less accessible

Wifi could be hard to find, and once you do find it, the connection could be a disaster.

Advice

• With a few useful apps (Maps Me, Google Maps, and Google Translate), you can manage your entire stay without the internet. Download the data in advance, and you should be good to go.
• And then, when you really need to go online, find an internet cafe. Make sure the neighborhood you are hoping to find one in has electricity.
• If you are staying in a country for a long time, get a local SIM card. Make sure your phone is unlocked. Check that before your journey.

On the Bright Side

• Once you spend some time offline, you might enjoy yourself, since it feels like freedom!

9. Credit cards, money exchange, etc.

Here are the potential problems I could think of:

• You may not be able to exchange your bills cause they look too old – this one is very common.
• They won’t change euros; dollars only (or the other way around)
• Credit cards are not accepted almost anywhere
• The ATM swallows your card – this one happens rarely, though

Advice

• Use Visa cards – they are the most universal
• Diversify your funds! For a 6-month journey, I travel with 2 different ATM cards. I carry only 1 well-hidden credit card, since it is usually not PIN-protected. Google Wallet is a cool alternative, but it’s rarely available in less-developed countries. Also I carry a well-hidden few hundred dollars in cash. The USD is much more common than the Euro in less-developed countries.

On the bright side

• You can get info on finance from the embassy, Wikitravel, or ChatGPT.

10. The trip doesn’t feel like a vacation

This pretty much combines and summarizes everything from this article. I remember my trip to Kenya: I was walking on the beach with some backpackers. As we were passing by a resort, with tourists drinking their cocktails by the pool, one of the backpackers commented: What they do is a vacation. Backpacking is not a vacation. Instead, it’s a hustle. Sometimes, even a nightmare.

On the bright side

• The way I see it: backpacking is an active vacation, and sitting by the pool is a nightmare and a waste of money. Well, the reality is, you can’t get a unique experience without experiencing a bit of a hustle!